Stacie Kelly, emergency services coordinator with the Riverside County Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Branch, spoke to attendees at the Aug. 14 Mountain Emergency Service Committee meeting about what her department offers the community. Her agency partners with the county’s Office of Emergency Services whenever a county emergency is declared. “We focus on the…
Three people came forward to speak at the Idyllwild Fire Protection District meeting on Aug. 12. All three had testified before the recent grand jury about problems within the Idyllwild Fire Department. With the end of the grand jury’s term, they were free to discuss their issues. Frank Altamirano, a former reserve with the department,…
A motorcyclist was fatally injured in a traffic collision in Mountain Center Saturday afternoon. Graydon Tucker, 77, of Beaumont, was injured at 2:15 p.m. and transferred by Reach Air to the Desert Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m. CHP Public Information Officer Darren Meyer said Tucker was traveling southbound on…
“I am an artist. For me to not create every day, to not make something, something is missing. I must create.” And for that voice with a name like “Mountain Mike,” certain expectations must follow. Looking the part, complete with beard, longer hair and well-worn hands that look strong enough to have wrestled a mountain…
Four-year-old Jake the cat didn’t really like camping, but owner Chuck Williams discovered that too late. On Saturday, June 28, Williams and roommate John Richards had brought Jake to Thousand Trails Campground and RV Park in Pine Cove for a weekend of escaping the desert heat. “We had just joined,” Williams said. “This was our…
By Jared Dillon Ireland is synonymous with beer, specifically stout. Another style Ireland is known for is the Irish Red Ale. Originating in the town of Kilkenny, it finds its history in the style of an English Pale Ale. The primary difference between the two styles is color. A roasted barley is traditionally used…
The Art Alliance of Idyllwild, one of the busiest and most visible of local nonprofits, presents a weekend of outdoor art. The Art and Treasures Weekend, envisioned as a mini Sawdust Festival (with a nod to Laguna Beach), gives AAI member artists an outdoor venue for two full days, from 10 a.m. to 5…
After only about a month, the number of confirmed oaks infested with goldspotted oak borers has surged 20 percent, to 48 from the 40 identified at July’s Mountain Area Safety Taskforce, according to Division Chief Gregg Bratcher, Cal Fire and Riverside County Fire Department forester. Just as alarming as the rapid spread of the pest…
Three individuals — two former reserve Idyllwild Fire firefighters and the father of one former limited-term firefighter and one current reserve — spoke at the Aug. 12 Idyllwild Fire Protection District meeting. Unlike local residents who praised the medical service they received this summer, these three were appalled at the district’s leadership, both at Chief…
Several years ago, perhaps in 2007, Casey Abrams and friends were lost and stranded off the South Ridge Trail. Idyllwild’s Lee Arnson, surveyor, and Les Walker, photographer and ceramicist, both of the Riverside Mountain Rescue Unit, rescued them that night. Abrams was in town this week because of Jazz in the Pines and stopped by…
